South Central Texas should expect “life threatening catastrophic floods” through Thursday, according to Gov. Greg Abbott.<\/p>\n
\n“We are dealing with and responding to a flood that is likely going to break records in Texas history,” Abbott said on Wednesday evening, shortly after meeting with public safety and emergency management officials in Austin.<\/p>\n
\n“I want to give you a comparison: The Fourth of July floods last year had rainfall of 20.29 inches. The expected rainfall during this rainstorm is expected to be more than 30 inches,” Abbott said.<\/p>\n
\nAs rain continues overnight, the Nueces River Basin and its tributaries in South Central Texas are considered especially vulnerable.<\/p>\n
\nThe governor’s warnings came after he issued a disaster declaration for 59 counties<\/a> on Tuesday. Abbott said more than 800 vehicles and more than 1,300 personnel have been deployed across 30 agencies statewide.<\/p>\n \n“Our primary focus right now and throughout the remainder of this torrential rain is saving lives,” he said.<\/p>\n \nThe intensity of the situation was apparent across the Texas Hill Country on Wednesday, as another round of heavy rain kept the region under flood warnings.<\/p>\n \nOutside the Kendall County community of Comfort, located just a few miles east of the Kerr County line, heavy rain caused Lower Cypress Creek to surge. It reached a “major flooding” level Wednesday morning according to RiverHub<\/a>, a new public dashboard launched after last year’s deadly floods<\/a> in the Hill Country. The dashboard combines real-time river, rainfall and weather data from a network of newly installed gauges<\/a> across the watershed.<\/p>\n \nBy Wednesday afternoon, the Lower Cypress Creek had slightly receded but still remained more than eight feet high.<\/p>\n \nIn a social media post<\/a>, the Comfort Volunteer Fire Department said crews have been monitoring creek levels and flood sensors, while checking low-water crossings and closing numerous roads because of high water.<\/p>\n \n“Our members will remain on duty overnight and continue monitoring conditions as additional rainfall moves through the area,” the department said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n It wasn’t immediately clear whether flood sirens<\/a> had been activated Wednesday. According to Stuart Gross, code enforcement officer for the city of Ingram in Kerr County, no sirens had been used as of Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \nThe Texas Newsroom also reached out to Tara Bushnoe, executive director of the Upper Guadalupe River Authority, and Kerr County Emergency Management Coordinator Shorey Harmon to determine whether sirens had been activated elsewhere in the county. Neither immediately responded.<\/p>\n \nSeveral flash flood warnings remained in effect Wednesday afternoon for parts of Kerr, Gillespie and Kendall counties as additional storms moved through the region. The National Weather Service<\/a> also issued a flood warning for the Guadalupe River at Hunt in Kerr County as river levels continued to rise.<\/p>\n \nThe Texas Hill Country has been nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley”<\/a> by meteorologists and is considered one of the nation’s most dangerous regions for flooding.<\/p>\n \nOther parts of Texas are being affected as well. The National Weather Service confirmed a tornado touched down<\/a> Wednesday morning in northwest San Antonio. Officials reported scattered damage but no immediate injuries.<\/p>\n \nThe San Antonio area remains under a flood watch<\/a> through Thursday evening. Forecasters warn that rivers \u2014 including the San Antonio, Medina, Nueces and Frio \u2014 could continue rising as runoff moves downstream.<\/p>\n